Chapter 60. Lin Zhaoyue earns her first merit.
Chapter 60: 60. Lin Zhaoyue earns her first merit.
Two months passed after the incident at Blue River City.
Inside the Lin Clan’s treasury hall, Su Qinglan quietly set down the report in her hands before looking toward the guard standing before her.
"Is there still no word about him?"
The guard lowered his head respectfully.
"No. There is still no news about him or his family."
Su Qinglan frowned.
"Is the patriach still in closed door cultivation?"
"Yes."
Su Qinglan let out a helpless sigh.
She still found everything that had happened over the past two months difficult to believe.
The Patriarch had barely emerged from his six-month seclusion before turning the entire region upside down.
He had personally slain Huang Guangzhou, a blood cultivator at the Seventh Layer of the Golden Core Realm.
He had forced the Li Family to bow their heads and publicly apologize for everything they had done to the Lin Family over the past several months.
Not only that, the Li Family had made special arrangements to ensure that trade through Blue River City proceeded without further interference.
As a result, the Lin Family’s caravans had traveled smoothly throughout the last two months.
The Zhao Family had also taken the initiative to seek an alliance and even offered the Lin Family a trade route into the empire, both families had formally established friendly relations.
Meanwhile, the Huang Family had become the target of an investigation by the City Lord.
With the authorities watching them closely, they no longer dared stir up trouble.
By all accounts...
The Lin Family had entered its most peaceful period in years.
Even so, one problem still remained.
Lin Zhenghai had vanished with his family.
They had disappeared without leaving behind the slightest trace and before fleeing, they had made sure to empty the treasury under their authority and taken every valuable resource they could carry.
The Patriarch had personally ordered the clan to spare no expense searching for them and once they were found, they were to be killed without mercy.
Not a single clan member questioned that decision.
After everything Lin Zhenghai had done, his actions could only be described as betrayal.
Meanwhile, far away from Azure Willow City, deep within a quiet mountain forest.
Lin Zhaoyue lay hidden among the thick branches of a towering tree.
The dense leaves concealed her small figure completely as she silently observed the campsite below.
A simple tent had been erected beside a small clearing.
A campfire crackled softly in the night, its warm light flickering across six familiar figures.
It was Lin Zhenghai and his family.
The very group of people the entire Lin Clan had been searching for over the past two months.
Lin Zhaoyue remained perfectly still as she watched them for several hours.
Not once did she allow herself to relax and gradually, the voices around the camp disappeared.
The fire burned lower as one person after another crawled into the tent or settled beside the dying flames.
Before long, the entire campsite fell silent.
Only the occasional crackling of burning wood disturbed the peaceful night.
Even then, Lin Zhaoyue did not move as she patiently waited another hour to confirm that everyone had fallen into a deep sleep.
Only then did she slowly rise to her feet before calmly sweeping her eyes across the campsite one final time.
She had already stepped into the Third Layer of the Golden Core Realm.
Lin Zhenghai, the strongest among them, had only reached the Peak of the Qi Refinement Realm.
The gap between them was simply too great.
If she wished, she could wipe out everyone below in only a few breaths.
Even so, Lin Zhaoyue refused to be careless.
She clearly remembered that Lin Zhenghai had fled with one of the Lin Family’s ancestral artifacts.
That treasure possessed enough power to seriously injure, or even kill, a Golden Core cultivator if used correctly.
She doubted Lin Zhenghai truly understood the artifact’s value.
However, she knew better than to gamble her life on assumptions.
It only took one unexpected mistake to lose everything.
After confirming once more that no one had stirred from their sleep, Lin Zhaoyue silently descended from the tree.
Like a shadow slipping through the darkness, she approached the sleeping camp.
Five minutes later, inside the Lin Family’s seclusion cave, Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes.
Before he could even gather his thoughts, the familiar system screen appeared before him.
———————————————————
[Quest Completed!]
[Lin Zhenghai has been eliminated.]
[Reward: Divine Eye.]
[The Divine Eye allows the host to inspect personal attributes and observe the attributes of others, subject to the host’s current cultivation realm.]
———————————————————
Lin Xuan let out a long sigh of relief upon reading that Lin Zhenghai was finally dead.
When he first received the quest, he believed it would be a difficult task.
However, upon his return, he discovered the man had fled with every treasure he could lay his hands on.
Lin Xuan promptly branded him a traitor.
This turn of events actually worked in his favor, completely eliminating the need to fabricate an excuse for the man’s execution.
After taking a few deep breaths, he cleared the man from his mind.
He could finally view his stats! Now, he would finally discover the true grade of his martial spirit.
With a single thought, a familiar screen appeared before him.
———————————————————
Host: Lin Xuan (Alive)
Realm: Tenth Layer of the Golden Core Realm
Martial Spirit: Seventh-Grade Legend Rank
———————————————————
Lin Xuan stared blankly at the screen.
"...Legend?"
The system had handed him a legend grade martial spirit as a newbie reward?
He had assumed it was going to be a good Martial Spirit considering how he can absorb the surrounding qi without the need for him to do anything but he hadn’t dare to dream of a legend grade!
Lin Xuan felt as though his soul had nearly left his body.
He took several deep breaths before finally calming himself.
After calming his racing emotions, he turned his attention to the lingering question in his heart.
What was Lin Zhaoyue’s martial ability like that allowed her to swallow cultivation pills like drinking water and soar through the realms as effortlessly as a soaring plane.
With another thought, the screen before him changed.
———————————————————
Name: Lin Zhaoyue (Regressor)
Realm: Third Layer of the Golden Core Realm
Martial Spirit: First-Grade Earth Rank
———————————————————
Lin Xuan blinked and his eyes slowly widened in disbelief.
He clearly remembered watching Lin Zhaoyue awaken a First-Grade Mortal Rank Martial Spirit during the awakening ceremony.
So when exactly had it become an Earth Rank Martial Spirit...